Tag Archives: Onion Powder

Please allow me to introduce you to Magic… Magic, this is the people of the United States, Australia, England, France, Brazil, Russia, Spain, Poland, the Ukraine, etc. Sorry for those followers I didn’t list but I really dont know your all of your names so hopefully this introduction will suffice! This is a honestly one of the quickest week night dinners I have made in quite some time, and I have all the faith in the world that if your a fan of Chicken Cordon Bleu, you will love this majestical little gent!

I have to say that I think aside from dilly-dallying around my kitchen, sipping wine (surprisingly yes wine and not craft beer) it only took me about 35 minutes from skillet to plate! Who in their right mind do not like easy weeknight skillet bakes?! The devil, that’s who!

Ingredients

1 Pkg Cooked Penne

2 Cups Cream

1 Cup Cream Cheese

2 Cups Swiss Cheese; shredded

2 Cups Chicken; cooked + chopped

1 Cup Ham Cold Cuts; Chopped

3/4 Cups Bacon Crumbles

1 Tsp Garlic Powder

1 Tsp Onion Powder

1/2 Tsp Black Pepper

1 Cup Pepperidge Farms Stuffing

4 Tbsp Salted Butter

For this recipe as well as any other pasta dishes that include bacon, I use thick sliced bacon. I do this because I feel that it adds to the crispness and well as flavor.

What we need to do is cook the bacon nice and crisp so that we can crumble and add it in due time to our skillet bake!

I tend to cook my bacon using the water method but tomato-tomato, so feel free to cook your bacon however you want!

Personally, I have never over cooked bacon this way and it is always perfectly crispy and beautifully crunchy so until she proves me wrong, I will continue with this controversial cooking method! Pfffft you know I like to live life on the edge every now and then!

[Insert honey badger narrative voice here]

Would you look at that?!

Cook your pasta as directed on the packages instructions for al dente, then add your cream and cream cheese in a large oven safe skillet over medium heat all the while whisking to fully incorporate. Once it is all happy and combined, reduce the heat to medium-low.

Would you look at that! Also note that those are bubbles from whisking, NOT BOILING!

Toss in your Garlic + Onion Powder as well as black pepper… (Okay, now those are bubbles from simmering)

Once again, whisk well to combine!

Toss in 1 1/2 cup of your Swiss Cheese (reserving 1/2 cup for the topping) and you guessed it…. whisk well to combine… See? This is so easy, a monkey could do it!

Continue whisking until fully melted and at this point we want to reduce the heat to low.

Toss in your chicken and ham…

Stir well to fully combine all the magical goodness!

GAAAH MY GAWD THERE IS SO MUCH MAGIC HAPPENING RIGHT NOW THAT MY FEELING CAN NOT TAKE IT!!!!!

Finally drain your pasta and add to your skillet!

Toss well to fully combine and coat your pasta evenly, then remove from heat and set aside.

As you all may or may not have noticed, I like to put together my own seasonings and rubs. I find that not only is it more thriftier, but it is also more convenient because you know how much you normally use within the time span of a month and make however much you need!

That being said, it came to my attention that I only have ONE crock pot/slow cooker meal on my whole blog so in a nutshell, I am slacking on my diversity once again and need to shake things up a bit! XD

YAY! Perfectly seasoned four! Reserve 1 Tbsp of the seasoned flour for our gravy we will make later.

Take one chop at a time and start breading!

Firmly press into the flour…

Scoop surrounding flour over the top and press firmly.

Shake off any excess flour…

That is one perfectly breaded chop! Now onto the rest!

Just like magic!

Now get ready to start the real magic here…

Over medium heat, coat a large saute pan in the olive oil.

Allow it to get hot enough that a pinch of flour will sizzle on contact.

Once the oil is hot enough, add 3 pork chops at a time and cook for 3 minutes on each side!

Be sure you do not over crowed the pan otherwise they will steam which will result in one tough and dry pork chop!

Set seared pork chops on a plate and start working on the remaining three!

Almost there!

Tada!

Add the reserved 1 Tbsp of seasoned flour to the remaining fat and olive oil in the skillet and whisk well the incorporate!

Reduce heat to medium low.

Pour in chicken stock and allow to reduce by half which should take 5 minutes.

The gravy is getting there!

Taking a few sprigs of parsley, start mincing them for our garnish!

…….Don’t forget about our gravy!

Now that it has reduced by half slowly add the butter milk while whisking to incorporate it in smoothly.

Would you look at that….

Whisk continuously until it is well blended and smooth.

Perfection!

Once again, working in batches of three, add the pork chops in with the gravy. Spoon some over the tops and allow to simmer for 5 minutes or until fully cooked. Once these are done, set finished chops aside on a plate and work on the last three, once again spooning gravy on top and simmering for 5 minutes. Repetitive, I know… But so worth it!

Once all the pork chops are done and you have them all sitting pretty on a plate…

Spoon all the gravy on top of them…

Then sprinkle with the parsley!

I know I posted a million pictures of these bad boys but I couldn’t decide on which ones to eliminate so just deal with them okay? XD

I know I have said it before, but I will say it again… She is one of my idols… No judging.

Anyways, while browsing BigY’s meat section, I noticed something different amongst the chicken that I had never expected… Chicken breast nuggets…. What?

All those times I have purchased chicken breast or chicken tenders and cut them into bite sized pieces… sweet baby Jesus someone up stares was listening!!!!

Anyways I turned to Ree to put them into some good use because lets face it, I had to snatch a few packages to stock the freezer with… Its the little things in life my friends! Less time cutting chicken and more time working on my wine flow!

To say that I am a bit obsessed with Cajun cuisine is a tad of an understatement…

I have been going out of my way (quite frequently might I add) to get my hands on authentic blackened chicken, jambalaya, and gumbo recipes to name a few. I am so happy that my latest find just so happens to be a HUGE staple in Cajun dishes… And that would be a little something called “Creole Seasoning”.

Yes, I know they carry it at Big Y among other grocery stores… But I can assure you it is nothing like the homemade good stuff!

Feel free to check them out, especially if you are in Florida! They are all about Cajun food selling crawfish, oysters, crab, and alligator among other things whole sale. They also advertize local Crawfish Boils, Festivals, etc. as well so again if you are from Florida, it sounds like they know how to have a good time 🙂

Now on with the Creole!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Kosher Salt

2 Tbsp Garlic Powder

2 1/2 Tbsp Paprika

1 Tbsp Black Pepper

1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper

1 Tbsp Onion Powder

1 Tbsp Dried Thyme

1 Tbsp Dried Oregano

Add all the ingredients in an air tight container such as a mason jar.

Shake well to combine!

I used my little food aid wand pulsar to break it down a bit more, so that there wouldn’t be big flakes of oregano or thyme shifting to the top of the jar when shaken.